Hoi An is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Yearly, it draws some millions of people coming to explore. This city is widely known for its long history as a trading port, full moon lantern festival, many delicious local dishes, peaceful countryside, beautiful beaches and islands, diverse crafts,… Because of that, travelers will be busy when spending a few days here. So now, HoiAn Day Trip Company will reveal 21 best things to do in Hoi An Vietnam.
See also: Best Things to Do in Da Nang Vietnam
• Content by Tam Le, founder of HOIAN DAY TRIP CO.,LTD
• Designed by Giang Cong Minh, co-founder of LS E&C LTD and his team
• Photo by Dang Cong Loi, Dao Xuan Son, Tam Le & others
Stroll Around Hoi An Old Town
The Hoi An Ancient Town (Hoi An Old Town) is definitely a must-visit attraction in Hoi An. It’s the heart of present-day Hoi An city, with the Thu Bon River to the south. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, this town played its role as an international port. Trading activities reached the peak here in the 17th and 18th centuries, making it prosperous. Nowadays, more than 1,100 buildings have been preserved in the Hoi An Ancient Town. In 1999, it’s inscribed to be Unesco world heritage site. See more information & details
Around Hoi An Ancient Town, there are numerous historical sites to sightsee, photo spots, good restaurants to eat, cafés to drink Vietnamese famous coffees, and shophouses to go shopping (especially tailors). All stand along small streets decorated by tons of lanterns and flowers.
In many hours of the day, specifically from 9 to 11:30 AM and 3 to 9-9:30 PM, motorbikes and cars are banned in the Hoi An Ancient Town. These are the best times for visitors to walk or cycle around.
Explore Hoi An Ancient Town at Night
The Hoi An Ancient Town is beautiful and wonderful in the evening. When the sun disappears, this lovely town becomes atmospheric, fairy, and such colorful with tons of lantern lights. Lanterns here are different in size, color, shape and pattern. They’re everywhere! On the river, people release paper lanterns to make wishes and take photos. These ‘floating lights’ are shimmering, romantic, and holy. On the night of the full moon night, when the traditional lantern festival happens, lanterns are even much more than that, making watchers so overwhelmed. To enjoy the atmosphere and beauty of Hoi An at night, lots of visitors come, and then fill walking streets, giving the town a vibrancy.
Hoi An Full Moon Lantern Festival
Every full moon night (the 14th day of lunar months), locals in Hoi An Ancient Town celebrate the Lantern Festival. In which, most families will hang up lanterns (the best color is red to pray for good luck), making the town extremely lightful and brilliant. For sure, visitors have many opportunities to have wonderful pictures.
Along the river, local people release paper lanterns, to send their wishes to gods and the Lord Buddha. These floating lanterns with shimmering candle lights, enhance the beauty of Hoi An so far. It’s easy to go on a boat ride and enjoy enchanting views at a slow pace. Additionally, many fun activities are held in the festival, such as singing folk songs, playing traditional games, making handicrafts with artisans,… For that reason, Hoi An’s Lantern Festival is in the list of must see for many travelers in Vietnam. It’s thought to be the best time to come and enjoy a special cultural event with locals. See more information & details
Boat Ride On Hoai River & Release Lanterns
When it’s dark, local people travel on the Hoai River by boat, to watch gorgeous and colorful lanterns as well as the vibrant world of the town. They also light up lotus-like paper lanterns and then release them to make wishes. The best time to do this is the full moon night, the holiest time of the month in Vietnamese culture. The boat ride is leisurely and inexpensive, allowing passengers to have many good photos from the beginning to the end. Visitors don’t have to come to Hoi An Ancient Town on the full moon day because it’s available everyday. See full information & details
Eat & Go Shopping at Hoi An Night Market
Close to the Hoi An Ancient Town, the Hoi An Night Market is the largest night market of Hoi An. With over 150 stalls, stores and vendors, this is a paraside to go shopping (especially tourist souvenirs, like foldable lanterns) and to taste local street food at a fair price. The best street foods are pork barbecues rolled with rice paper and raw vegetables, banana pancakes or sweet local style tofu pudding. Those who like taking pictures should not miss this market too, because it’s a couple of colorful and lightful lantern shops. In the surroundings, visitors can do the lantern boat ride, watch the bamboo circus, drink at atmospheric, fun bars with live music. No doubt, here is an awesome place for nightlife in Hoi An. See more information & details
Teh Dar Show (‘Bamboo Circus’) in Hoi An Lune Center
Teh Dar show is the only performance directed by internationally-rewarded Lune production in Hoi An at the moment. It’s first introduced in the town in 2018, and returned in 2022 after a world tour. Within an hour, this aerobatic show tells the audience stories about the life and culture of tribal communities in Vietnamese central highlands. Its music and conception are amazing from the beginning to the end (plus techniques and costumes of artists). Viewers can’t leave their eyes on performances, and keep clapping their hands. We believe that Teh Dar show is worth watching when you are in Hoi An. See full information & details
Sunset Boat Trip on Thu Bon River
Hoi An sits on the left bank of Thu Bon river, the largest river in the province (it’s 205 kilometers long). In the sunset, traveling on this river by a boat cruise is a relaxing, cool activity. Visitors have many photo opportunities while seeing sceneries along the banks, bridges or for sure, an incredible sunset view. When it’s dark, locals often offer to release lanterns to make wishes. If going earlier, Kim Bong carpentry village and Thanh Ha pottery village are good to visit once the sun turns orange. See full information & details
Get Clothes Made at Hoi An’s Local Tailors
Hoi An was ever a major stop in the Maritime Silk Road because of good quality silk and fabric products here. Today, the textile industry is still alive. Around Hoi An’s Old Town, visitors will see hundreds of tailor shops and get some custom made fashion items, such as suit, dress, pant, shirt, etc. Within a couple of days, a suit can be completed, and then suite makers can bring home directly or send it home by delivery service. Plus inexpensive prices, getting a tailor made suit (or other garments) is a popular thing to do in Hoi An Vietnam.
VinWonders Nam Hoi An Theme Park
Vinwonders Nam Hoi An Theme Park is to the southeast of Hoi An (30 mins drive). It’s a huge complex including numerous things to see and do as well as restaurants and shops. Visitors can find a water park (with slides, kid playgrounds, pools), a semi-wild safari park (with a plenty of animals and a boat tour to watch them), a bird park, an amusement park (with enthralling rides and rolls), and a cultural island (with typical housing architecture and handicrafts from all regions of Vietnam). No surprise, this theme park is the favourite place for families and groups of young friends. See more information & details
Opening times: 9 AM to 8 PM daily
Cost: 600,000 VND for adult & children above 1,4m, cheaper for smaller kids
Time to spend: at least a half-day
Climb Up to Marble Mountain
The Marble Mountains are not far from Hoi An (30 mins drive). It’s a complex of 5 marble and limestone hills that rise suddenly and strikingly from the ground. A Vietnamese king named them by elements of the Five Elements (theory), so we can see ‘Water Mountain’, ‘Fire Mountain’, ‘Earth Mountain’, ‘Wood Mountain’, and ‘Metal Mountain’. The tallest and largest one is the ‘Water Mountain. Here, visitors can see ancient Buddhist temples, an extensive network of caves, outlooks for panoramic views, sharp peaks, and exotic plants. It’s needed to climb many stairs to go from one site to the other. See more information & details
Watch Hoi An Memories Show
The Hoi An Memories Show is Vietnam’s largest outdoor art visual performance, and is an amazing spectacle in Hoi An. Within exactly 1 hour, at a huge amphitheatre and background, 500 performers and artists work together to tell the audience a full history of Hoi An and Vietnamese culture. It’s not hard to realize the national costume – ao dai, conical hat, lanterns, bicycles, yellow houses, bamboo trees, the Japanese bridge, gourd zither, or in the golden era of the town as an international port (sailing boat, boats on the river, merchants, love stories,…). Before/after the show, visitors can go around the Hoi An impression theme park or take pictures at the Moonlight bridge. It’s well-deserved to be on the itinerary of all travelers. See full information & details
Discover Hoi An Coconut Forest by Basket Boat
In Cam Thanh Water Coconut Village, not far away from Hoi An’s centre, visitors can discover a vast, pristine palm forest by bamboo basket boat, a unique fishermen’s boat. A ride on it is propelled by one local man who has many experiences and skills to balance this round vessel. More than that, locals will stand in it, spin it (many times), and shake it, giving lots of fun, surprises and many photo/video opportunities. Other activities are watching/joining fish caught by net, listening to local folk songs, going crab fishing (instructed by boat rower, not to eat). It’s totally worth doing. See full information & details
Day Trip to Golden Hands Bridge
The Golden Hands Bridge is a world-famous tourist attraction in Ba Na Hills, about 1 hour drive from Hoi An. At an elevation of 1,400 meters, this 150m-long walking bridge boasts an architecture that is inspirational and full of creativity. Its handrails are titanium plated, so becomes golden in the sun. To support it, there are two giant hands constructed, and both look mossy, rough, and opposite to the bridge above. They symbolize the hands of Mountain God who want to give something special for visitors when come to the park. During the day, thanks to weather, the Golden Hands Bridge offers different scenes. Sometimes, it’s soaked into the midst or clouds, and sometimes, looks gorgeous in the sunrise or sunset. From here, visitors can feel such cool breezes and catch a breath-taking panoramic view. See more information & details
Chill Out in An Bang Beach
An Bang Beach is the best beach in Hoi An. It’s busy everyday in sunny months because it has a wide strip of fine sand stretching for many kilometers, with a view to Cham Islands. There are numerous chairs and loungers here, to sit or lie down to relax. If like going swimming, the seawater here is cool, clear, not deep, and definitely safe (plus moderate waves). Under coconut trees, visitors can find restaurants and bars, to try flavourful seafood dishes cooked by local recipe, or grab some cold drinks with extremely cool breezes blowing from the ocean. An Bang has everything that you need for a beach! See more information & details
Go Snorkeling/Diving in Cham Islands
Cham Islands (Cu Lao Cham) is a group of 8 islands, and the largest island is known as Hon Lao, /extending/ 13,8 km2 (most populations are here). This offshore archipelago is home to great white sandy beaches, steep cliffs with bird’s nests and dense forests. Under their surrounding clear sea waters, visitors will have a chance to see up close one of the best protected, most beautiful marine life and coral reefs in Vietnam. It’s designated to be a national protection area and a part of Unesco world biosphere reserve. During sunny months, unquestionably, going snorkeling/scuba diving/sea walking to see this spectacular underwater world (coupled with beaches, extremely fresh seafood) is among the best things to do in Hoi An. See full information & details
Hands-On Vietnamese Cooking Class
Nowhere in Vietnam is better than Hoi An to join a cooking class. In which, visitors will have a fun and interesting time to learn about local ingredients and how to prepare different Vietnamese foods. All of these experiences are hands-on and under the instruction of local chief.
Popular dishes are Vietnamese style papaya salad or banana flower salad, banh xeo (crispy rice pancakes), fresh or fried spring rolls, cao lau noodles, mi quang noodles, fish cooked in the clay pot. No doubt, the cooking class is one of the best things to do in Hoi An for foodies, families and travelers loving new experiences.
In Hoi An, it’s possible to combine a cooking class with some other activities, such as basket boat tour in palm forest, walking sightseeing tour in Old Town, cycling tours, or even night walking tours. See more information & details
Day Trip to My Son Sanctuary
My Son Sanctuary is a Unesco world heritage site, about 1km away from Hoi An. It’s a complex of over 70 temples and towers built by Cham people, from the 4th to 13rd centuries. During this period, it played its role as a holy land to worship Shiva God (Hinduism). My Son is known as the most important religious site of Champa Kingdom (ever existed in Vietnam until the 19th century) as well as Southeast Asia.
Because of being abandoned for hundreds of years, My Son Sanctuary today is surrounded by dense forests. To go from temple to temple, visitors will walk along paths under the tree shade, and cross small clear-water streams. Don’t forget to watch performances in the public stage! See more information & details
Cycle Around Hoi An’s Countryside
Hoi An is embraced by a such tranquil countryside, with villages, rice fields, vegetable gardens, rivers and coconut forests. With a slower pace, riding a bicycle through it is still the best way to discover, and take photos. Visitors can go to these villages: Tra Que Village (traditional vegetable and herb growing), Cam Thanh Coconut Village (traditional palm leaf roofing and bamboo house building, basket boat ride), Thanh Ha Village (traditional pottery making) and Kim Bong Village (traditional carpentry). On the other side of Thu Bon River, Cam Kim Island is the least/non touristy rural land of Hoi An.
Hoi An Evening Walking Food Tour
The best time to know about and learn about local dishes is joining a food tour. In Hoi An, walking food tour in late afternoon/evening when most foods can be found, are most popular. Thanks to an interesting history and diverse populations, local cuisine here is special. Many dishes in Hoi An are unseen in the rest of the country and the world. Besides stories from a local foodie, visitors will meet food makers or street vendors, see how they cook, and try their delicious foods.
Tra Que Vegetable Village
3 km away from Hoi An Ancient Town, Tra Que Vegetable Village is known as the best fresh vegetable and herb producer in Hoi An. Local people believe that ‘Tra Que herbs’ have better flavours than others. Surrounded by rivers and swamps, this small village is a peaceful oasis that is full of green gardens. Farmers here have grown vegetables some hundreds of years ago, and today, are still using traditional farming methods. When coming to Tra Que Vegetable Village, visitors have the chance to be a farmer and join the daily works of local farmers, or join a cooking class in which vegetables are picked right in the family’s gardens. To get there, riding the bicycle across rice fields is popular. See more information & details
Thanh Ha Pottery Village
Thanh Ha Pottery Village is one of the last living pottery making villages in Vietnam. Inhabitants here have produced a variety of objects (and tiles) by locally-sourced clay, for some hundreds of years already. In the past, they’re sold for Vietnamese and foreign merchants in the Old Town. It became a large workshop, thanks to its convenient location. Later, the industry declined and was close to disappearance. Nowadays, visitors come here to see how local artisans make pottery by hand with a potter’s wheel, scenes about their works, and buy souvenirs. See more information & detail
